Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Everyman's right – 全ての人の権利 – Jokamiehenoikeudet

(日本語版記事は、英語版の後に続きます)

<In English>
I have been enjoying the beautiful Finish nature and making post on this blog for some time now, yet, I have not posted this topic.

In my humble opinion, there is nothing more important than knowing (understanding) the Finish “Everyman's right” when going out to Finish nature. On the other way of saying, without this knowledge, you really should not go out there.

Everyman's right (Jokamiehenoikeudet) is the rights granted to all man, and important Finish legal concept. And it gives everyone the chance to enjoy outdoor pursuits, and the freedom of the country’s vast forests and fells, and many lakes and rivers, with few restrictions. (* ref. the booklet of Everyman's right in Finland)

Basically it tells you what you can and cannot do while you are in Finnish nature and has been working to protect the land, landowners and outdoor enthusiasts.
It really is a commonsense, like do not disturbed others and do not destroy the nature and reassess… but this also includes how to achieve that while keeping the most important rights of all, Freedom of accessing to country’s vast forests including public access to private land.

I am not going through the content of this rights, because it is better if you read it yourself the official materials.
So here is the links to Ministry of the Environment pages.
You can read the good “in brief” from <http://www.environment.fi/default.asp?contentid=381395&lan=EN>
Or  you can download the long version booklet from < http://www.environment.fi/default.asp?contentid=104523&lan=en&clan=en>
I also recommend reading this for who are not coming to Finland to enjoy the nature. I think you might find that this regal concept is very interesting.



<日本語>
今まで、フィンランドの自然を楽しみ、その様子をこのブログで紹介してまいりました。が、フィンランドの自然を満喫する上で、一番重要なことを紹介し忘れていました。全ての人の権利 – Jokamiehenoikeudet(ヨカ・ミエヘン・オイケウデットと読みます)これを知らずにフィンランドの大自然へ立ち入るのは非常にマナー違反でしょう。極端な言い方をすれば、『立ち入る資格無し』です。

『全ての人の権利』とはフィンランドの自然を楽しもうとする人全てに与えられる権利で、フィンランドの法律の中でもとても重要なコンセプトです。
簡単に言いますと、フィンランドの自然を楽しむ上で、やって良い事、いけない事を具体的に示した物になります。


内容を簡単に紹介すると・・・
可>
庭、畑、住居とその近くを除く地域は自由に歩行、スキーもしくは自転車での通行OK。
テントなどの設営、短期間の滞在(2-3日)は住居から十分離れている場合や森の中なら、どこでもOK。
ベリーピッキング、茸狩り、野草の収集は、保護品種でなけば自由。
湖での竿と釣り糸を使った釣りはOK。(リールを使う釣りは不可!)
ボート類の水路での使用はOK。制限域有り!用確認。
凍結した水域の歩行、スキー、つりはOK.

不可
他人に迷惑をかける。公共物などの破壊、破損。
鳥類の繁殖を妨げる、もしくは巣や雛に何らかの危害を加える。
トナカイや、狩猟動物に危害を加える。
木を切り倒したり傷をつける。コケ、藻類の採集。他人の物への危害。
私有地での焚き火。(緊急時を除く)
他人の家の近くで通行、つり、キャンプ、大騒ぎをする。また他人のプライバシーを侵害しない。(許可の有る場合は除く。)

この様に非常に基本常識な事ばかりになりますが、これらは自然、土地所有者、そしてアウトドアを楽しむ人のそれぞれをバランスよく守るためには必要なことです。
たとえば、土地所有者を守るために、『焚き火はだめ、でも直ちに消火が可能なキャンプストーブはOK』。アウトドアを楽しむ人を守るために、『私有地により立ち入り禁止!のような看板は禁止、でもアウトドアマンは所有者の物をリスペクトしてね!ダメージちょっとでも与えたら絶対あかんよ!』。
自然を守るために『木を切り倒したり傷をつける。コケ、藻類の採集は禁止、でも森の恵みはじゆうにどうぞ!』などと双方に自由と制限を与えています。

フィンランドの環境省(Ministry of the Environment)のぺージで全文が読めるので、興味のある方はぜひどうぞ!自然と楽しく付き合うためのヒントが詰まっていますので、フィンランドでアウトドアしない人にもぜひ読んでいただきたいと思います。
英語版要約→ <http://www.environment.fi/default.asp?contentid=381395&lan=EN>
英語版Everyman's right in Finland全文PDF→< http://www.environment.fi/default.asp?contentid=104523&lan=en&clan=en>

3 comments:

  1. I understand the feelings of those who want to go to the forest and and have none. For that reason, I've always been generous about letting those who ask use my land for reasonable recreation. But, I also know the disgust of having my privacy invaded when a trespasser ruins my hunt or my quiet time in my own woods. I doubt if I would agree with the Finnish idea.

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  2. Anonymous15/6/11 09:16

    Being an American who lives in Finland, I have mixed feelings about this, as well.

    On the one hand, I do like the idea of unrestricted wilderness travel, berry picking, mushroom picking etc. The freedom to roam like in the really, really old days.

    On the other hand, I would hate to see somebody mess up my property by abusing the right to be there. It would just be weird knowing that anyone has the right to access my private property. Part of me feels that it's just not right.

    I think that if an area has lots of public land which is accessible for outdoor pursuits, there really shouldn't be too much of a need to access private property.

    It's a tough call.

    bmatt

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  3. I thought this would bring some discussion...
    Publically allowing to freely wondering around the private land was quite surprise for me as well. Especially the part, that prohibiting putting up of any notification to prohibit the free access to land.

    But as you can read the article about “How well it is working” from the same page, it seems to be working well so far.
    I am guessing that in Finland, that is the way it has been and older teaching to younger, then large number of people still practices it.

    I do not know how long more this can stay working, because this is very much up to users moral. Stating it clearly as part of low like this will help preserving this tradition, but if people start to loose the respect to nature and other people, this right might need to be revised… I hope that day will not come, because I know what happens if every one is prohibiting every thing and shouting at each other…

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